The Socceroos will play Brazil on both September 25 (Townsville) and September 29 (Brisbane) in their only two home-nation friendlies leading up to the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
They'll therefore serve as very important practice and intelligence gathering for Popovic, who has seemingly moved on from several depth players selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Popovic was unable to call upon the injured trio of Jordy Bos, Cameron Burgess or Cristian Volpato, all of whom would have been very likely selections if fit.
Bos' younger brother, Kasey Bos, is one of seven uncapped players Popovic has added to the 16 players he has retained from the World Cup squad.
Former captain Mat Ryan, who was dropped for former Melbourne City custodian Patrick Beach during the World Cup, has been left out of the squad entirely despite getting regular La Liga minutes as the starting goalkeeper for Levante.
The other six players from the 2026 World Cup squad who have been moved on are Cammy Devlin, Ajdin Hrustic, Mat Leckie, Awer Mabil, Kai Trewin and Nishan Velupillay.
In addition to the uncapped players - Kasey Bos, Eli Adams, Kealey Adamson, Jacob Chapman, Yaya Dukuly, Dylan Leonard and Marcus Younis - Popovic has also recalled Riley McGree, Patrick Yazbek and Alex Robertson.
McGree and Yazbek both missed the World Cup through injury, whilst Cardiff's Robertson was cut from the final 26-man squad.
Socceroos squad to face Brazil:
Goalkeepers: Patrick Beach, Jacob Chapman*, Paul Izzo
Defenders: Kealey Adamson*, Aziz Behich, Kasey Bos*, Alessandro Circati, Milos Degenek, Jason Geria, Lucas Herrington, Jacob Italiano, Dylan Leonard*, Harry Souttar
Midfielders: Jackson Irvine, Riley McGree, Connor Metcalfe, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Alexander Robertson, Patrick Yazbek
Forwards: Eli Adams*, Yaya Dukuly*, Nestory Irankunda, Mohamed Toure, Tete Yengi, Marcus Younis*
*Uncapped
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
